Tag Archives: creationism

SBOE approves new evolution standard

Posted on April 21, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Shockingly, it doesn’t suck. The Texas State Board of Education tentatively voted to remove language in high school biology standards that would have required students to challenge evolutionary science. Currently, the curriculum requires students to “evaluate” scientific explanations for the … Continue reading →

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Some things never evolve

Posted on February 6, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The SBOE, for instance. The Texas State Board of Education on Wednesday voted preliminarily for science standards that would keep in language that some say opens the door to creationism. The votes came a day after the board heard from … Continue reading →

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How extreme is too extreme?

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The GOP candidates for Lite Guv are doing their best to test the hypothesis that having an R next to your name is all you need to get elected statewide in Texas, regardless of your stated positions on issues. The … Continue reading →

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Teaching creationism in Texas

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Zack Kopplin reports on some unconstitutional behavior by a national charter school operator that has several campuses in Texas. When public-school students enrolled in Texas’ largest charter program open their biology workbooks, they will read that the fossil record is … Continue reading →

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Standing up for science

Posted on September 19, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Sure hope it did some good. A past Texas State Board of Education chairman and outspoken creationist urged his former colleagues on Tuesday to approve high school biology textbooks he said would “strike a final blow to the teaching of … Continue reading →

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SBOE getting set to review biology textbooks

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

TFN Insider sounds the alarm. We already knew that creationists on the State Board of Education had nominated anti-evolution ideologues to sit on teams reviewing proposed new high school biology textbooks in Texas. We now have seen the actual reviews … Continue reading →

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Zack Kopplin

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Remember the name Zack Kopplin. Rice University sophomore Zack Kopplin says he has been called the Antichrist, a godless liberal and, bizarrely, the cause of Hurricane Katrina. Kopplin, 19, has gained notoriety for championing the fight against his home state … Continue reading →

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The opening argument against vouchers

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve been hearing about vouchers since Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst named Sen. Dan Patrick to be Chair of the Senate Education Committee, but we haven’t heard – or at least, I haven’t seen – a lot of information about what … Continue reading →

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Texas Freedom Network’s guide to the SBOE elections

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Freedom Network has put out a useful little voter’s guide to the 2012 State Board of Education elections, which covers a range of topics from creationism and climate change to bullying and SBOE procedures. You might look at … Continue reading →

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Grading Texas science classes

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

We get a C. Texas public school science courses “pay lip service” to critical content and largely ignore evolution in the middle grades, according to a national education foundation study that gives the state of Texas an overall “C” for … Continue reading →

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SBOE manages to not screw up science supplements

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Baby steps. The quietude of yesterday’s State Board of Education meeting came to a screeching halt during today’s final vote over supplemental science materials. After a unanimous preliminary vote on Thursday, the board appeared split over alleged errors in how … Continue reading →

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Day One at the SBOE

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s your TFN Insider coverage of today’s SBOE science hearings. In Part I of the hearings, we find that the SBOE may not be such a major factor in school curriculum any more: 10:20  – Board members are quizzing the … Continue reading →

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Time to get it on again with the SBOE

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From an email from the National Center for Science Education: The Texas Board of Education is at it again, this time aiming to insert creationism into high school biology classes via textbook “supplements” (such as those from International Databases, LLC). … Continue reading →

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Creationists concede

Posted on September 6, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

A small bit of good news for Texas education. Henry Morris III, the CEO of the Institute for Creation Research, has announced the end of the school’s fight with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. In 2008, after the board … Continue reading →

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Score one for science

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Good. On its website, the Institute for Creation Research promises an education that is “Biblical. Accurate. Certain.” But there’s one thing they can’t promise: a master’s degree in science education. In 2008, after the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board denied … Continue reading →

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Chris Comer appeals lawsuit dismissal

Posted on August 21, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I had lost track of Chris Comer, the former director of science curriculum for the Texas Education Agency, who resigned under pressure for sending out email regarding a lecture that debunked “intelligent design” since she filed a wrongful termination lawsuit … Continue reading →

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The SBOE’s assault on history

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

In my earlier post about the virtues of a pro-science PAC, I mentioned that the State Board of Education had turned its attention towards doing to social studies what it had done to science. Vince gives a great rundown of … Continue reading →

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Dunbar in line to chair SBOE

Posted on July 6, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The crazy never stops. Critics who engineered the recent ouster of State Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy, in part because of his strong religious beliefs, could end up with someone even more outspoken in her faith. Cynthia Dunbar, R-Richmond, … Continue reading →

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Win some, lose some for science

Posted on March 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the basic conclusion to draw after the three-day circus that was the now-concluded SBOE hearings in Austin. TFN Insider sums it up: TFN President Kathy Miller: Texas State Board of Education Adopts Flawed Science Standards The word “weaknesses” no … Continue reading →

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Strengths and weaknesses fails

Posted on March 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the good news. San Antonio’s Ken Mercer, part of the board’s seven-member social conservative bloc, tried to put the much-debated “strengths and weaknesses” language back into the state’s science standards that guide the content of textbooks and curriculum. Mercer’s … Continue reading →

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The “strengths and weaknesses” showdown

Posted on March 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Back in January, the State Board of Education somewhat surprisingly voted to remove anti-science “strengths and weaknesses” language from the curriculum. That was only a preliminary vote, however, and today is the day that the hearings begin for the final … Continue reading →

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“Strengths and weaknesses” rears its head again

Posted on March 15, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I know we thought that the current round of anti-evolutionism was in remission once the effort to change the science textbooks by the State Board of Education fell short. Sadly, these things never truly go away, and where the SBOE … Continue reading →

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The dentist in charge

Posted on March 14, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The Statesman has a profile of Don McLeroy, the young-earth creationist who is also the chair of the State Board of Education and who is currently leading the fight to cripple science education in Texas. I’m not going to get … Continue reading →

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Evolution in action

Posted on February 2, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

A common refrain I hear from scientists when another political controversy over the teaching of evolution arises is that they need to do a better job of explaining what they do and why it matters. Well, when the scientists get … Continue reading →

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Chron coverage of yesterday’s SBOE actions

Posted on January 24, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the Chron story about yesterday’s happenings at the State Board of Education, in which the good news was that the anti-science “strengths and weaknesses” language had been removed from the curriculum, and the bad news was that a subsequent … Continue reading →

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Update on yesterday’s evolution happenings

Posted on January 23, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

In the comments to yesterday’s post about the vote taken by the State Board of Education that stripped out “strengths and weaknesses” language about evolution, Martha noted that there was another vote on this to be taken today. I haven’t … Continue reading →

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Evolution remains legal in Texas

Posted on January 22, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Whew! That was a close one. In a major defeat for evolution critics, a sharply divided State Board of Education voted Thursday to follow the advice of a panel of science educators and drop a long-time requirement that “weaknesses” in … Continue reading →

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